Emily could not have imagined the turns her life would take when she meets Wash Roebling at a ball in Washington during the Civil War. Wash, who emerged from the war with what we would now term PTSD, is an engineer and part of a famous family of bridge builders. After the marriage, Emily feels stifled at home and is fascinated with the construction which is a good thing because when Wash and his father die, she becomes the person who continues their work on what is now known as the Brooklyn Bridge. This is rich in historical information (and real people) and may send you to check what's fact and what's fiction. You like me may learn something. What's key though, is how Emily came into her own. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read for fans of historical fiction.

this book was not to my taste at all. I assumed it would be a little more.. women power then it proved to be.

As my daughter's name is Brooklyn, I've always loved all things Brooklyn. This book was perfect for me (besides that I love historical fiction!). I love how empowering this book is and how it gives the reader a view into how women had to work so much harder in a man's world! I couldn't put this down and I highly recommend it!

I enjoyed this historical fiction based around the woman who basically engineered the Brooklyn Bridge. I enjoyed learning about her story and life during a time when women were thought to be second class citizens. She was quite an anomaly for her time. There was a great deal of detail about how the bridge was built that went over my head but overall I enjoyed the book.

I love historical fiction set around real life events. The Engineer's Wife is no exception. I had no idea about the history of the Brooklyn Bridge, but I really have a new appreciation for both women as engineers and that structure that is still standing today. I feel this is a well researched book.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Emily, a strong, intelligent and determined woman, marries Wash, a bridge engineer. When Wash is named Chief Engineer on the Brooklyn Bridge project, Emily is excited and willing to help in whatever way possible. When Wash is injured on the job, she steps in and takes over for her. As her marriage begins to crumble, Emily asks herself if the sacrifices she is making are worth it.

This was a well written and well paced book. Emily was a very likeable and very well crafted character. Overall, highly recommended.

This story is about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and in particular the family behind the scheme. It is a novel but with a huge depth of historical and scientific research behind it. I found it quite hard to read as it contains a lot of detail both of fact and relationships. You will learn a lot about civil engineering of the mid 19th century in reading this. I was also fascinated by cassions disease which I knew little about previously. Well done to the author.

This is a wonderful book that is hard to put down. This is a story I had never heard before. It is about an engineers wife, Emily, who takes over on part of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband gets sick using her self taught knowledge of engineering. I highly recommend this book to all fans of historical fiction.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This book was so enjoyable; it was hard to put down. I haven’t read a historical-fiction book in quite some time and I forgot how much I enjoyed them. The book was written in such a way that I could see the story played out in my head when I closed my eyes. I loved Emily’s character; she was so determined and simply brilliant.

In "The Engineer's Wife", we are introduced to Emily Warren Roebling, a woman ahead of her time who became the true crusader behind one of the world's most recognized landmarks, The Brooklyn Bridge. When her husband, Washington Roebling, takes over as chief engineer after his father's untimely death, Emily decides to study her husband's engineering books. After her husband is diagnosed with Caisson's Disease ( aka Decompression sickness), Emily using her self taught knowledge steps in to help complete the project. I was fascinated with not only Emily's story (which I had never heard of), but also of the herculean effort it took by so many to construct this engineering marvel. Tracey Enerson Wood brings to life the courage and fortitude of this amazing woman during a time of when women's minds and talents were so quickly dismissed. Like many of the best historical fiction books I love, this one has motivated me to read and learn more about Emily Roebling and the bridge she loved.

The Woman Behind The Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a masterpiece. I have seen the documentary about the building of the bridge so much of this story is not new to me. The efforts of the engineer's wife were truly the reason the bridge was built. The author did a great job of sewing the pieces of this woman's life together in a cohesive story. Although this biography is fictionalized, it is all completely believable. This book is well worth reading. Those who enjoy learning about the construction methods of the time will love this book. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

In the author's note, she says that the purpose of historical fiction is to bring light to a time in history that we may not have previously experienced. This book does just that. I love when I get into a historical fiction novel and find myself on Wikipedia trying to sort out the fact from fiction. Did PT Barnum and Emily overlap? What did caissons look like? I knew about the bends from hearing about SCUBA, but how did that work in the late 1800s? It took a minute or two for me to adjust to characters that aren't in a love story. I have been face first in romance and rom-coms for several weeks and I think it absolutely affected how I went into reading this book. Once I got into the groove, Emily's story of sacrificing her dreams, family vision and love for her husband drew me in.

The Engineer's Wife reminded me very much of Marie Benedict's books and her tales of little known women who do great things in our history. Thank you so much for letting me read and review!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Papa and Washington Roebling drew plans and raise the funds to build the Brooklyn Bridge. Papa passes away and Wash develops a nervous condition brought on my the bends diving into the caissons during the building process. That leaves his wife Emily to finish building the bridge. With no formal training or education, she teaches herself the means to finish this bridge. Twenty of the 500 craftsman died but a lot was learned from these fatalities. This story was really good and I loved the history of this beautiful bridge! #theengineerswife #traceyenersonwood

I really enjoyed this story of the building of the Brooklyn bridge! I loved how Emily had so much input into this story..

First off, the cover of this book is sublime. I wanted to love this story. Historical fiction can be hit or miss for me, but this book had elements I love, such as a strong, pioneering woman, and a love story. In the end, though, I didn't enjoy it. The pacing was slow, and I didn't connect with the protagonist, Emily. Even so, the author has done tremendous research, and I enjoyed some unexpected aspects of the story, such as learning about Emily's brother. I Googled him to read more about him, all because of this book.

The only thing better than reading a well-written book full of substance and defined characters is learning something at the same time. I found the author's descriptions of bridge-building and the suffrage movement to be interesting and informative without being too heavy. Readers with connect with Emily as she struggles to fulfill her husband's dreams while placing her own on hold. Readers with empathize with and champion for Emily as she tries to balance the overwhelming responsibilities of building a bridge and being an advocate for women as well as a wife and mother.
#NetGalley #TheEngineer'sWife

I found The Engineer's Wife a compelling read. Those who enjoy historical fiction, or books with strong women characters will certainly be drawn to this well researched and richly drawn story of the family responsible for the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The story, covering the years 1864 - 1884, is told through the voice of Emily Warren Roebling, wife of Washington Roebling, who with his father John, designed and built the bridge. Emily is definitely an independent woman with a mind of her own. She chafes at the commonly held notion of a woman's place and worth, and works with the women's suffrage movement. Emily meets her future husband through her older brother, Major General G. K. Warren, a civil war hero (Captain Washington Roebling is Warren's aide). Though wishing she had more time on her own before marriage, given the war situation and truly in love with Wash, she agrees to marry him when he proposes. It is the first, but not the last time she will set aside her wants and dreams to support his.

After the Civil War ends, Wash returns to the family business of building bridges. Eager to learn all she can about her husband's work, Emily asks him to explain his project to her. Flattered by her interest, Wash enjoys teaching her about engineering and the various things that must be taken into consideration. Emily often hides at the work site to watch, listen, and better understand his days. As pressure surrounding the project escalates, Wash becomes consumed with his work to the detriment of his marriage. When he becomes disabled due to the effects of decompression sickness and confined to home, Emily becomes his messenger, carrying his instructions to the crew at the work site. Soon she is his eyes and ears, staying all day at the site with the workers.

Emily is a woman at odds with herself for giving up her own dreams to pursue the love and favor of a husband who is becoming ever more distant. With little acknowledgment from her husband or others for her efforts and sacrifices, and scorned for acting like a man (against the laws of the day), she fights an uphill battle to see that the bridge is completed and to repair her marriage.

Wood is skilled at transporting the reader to the place and time in which the book takes place. Her characters are very complex and interesting. The detailed information regarding building the bridge show the author's meticulous research.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it to others. My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions stated here are my own.

I love the Historical Fiction genre because I get to learn about different people and eras while enjoying a compelling story. I'm often enticed by books featuring strong female characters and The Engineer's Wife sounded like it fit the bill on both counts.

Emily Roebling isn't a name many people will recognize but she is a woman who became increasingly vital to the building of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge back in the late 19th century. This story revolves around her personal and professional lives as the wife of the chief architect of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I tried to connect with Emily and her husband Wash but they were a hard couple to like and didn't have enough depth. But my main issue was the detailed technical information about the building of the bridge that took over the story. These facts were unnecessary and too technical for the average reader who wants a good story but not necessarily comprehensive engineering info.

I liked that Enerson Wood included historical aspects including the suffrage movement, the human toll and working conditions the workers endured during the bridge construction and the limitations faced by women. Those additions give readers a good view of the era but with the weak characterizations and unnecessary clinical text, this became a tedious read for me. Roebling was an interesting historical character and her story, and the history of the Brooklyn Bridge are stories that should be shared, but I didn't enjoy how these stories were told within this book.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wonderful and wonderfully enlightening novel based on the life of Emily Warren Roebling, wife of Washington Roebling and daughter in law of John Roebling who designed both the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge.

With John’s untimely death and Washington’s unfortunate incapacity due to the bends, Emily finds herself tasked with not only supervising the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge but verifying the integrity of the supplies and components necessary. She is also the one who must meet with the politicians and various committees who provide funds, oversee the project, etc.

Due to Washington’s guidance, mentoring and her own diligence in studying his engineering texts, she does an incredible job.

One of the major historical characters injected into this story was P. T. Barnum. Our author depicted him as being in love with Emily and rescuing her time and time again when she encountered unexpected obstacles. Our author also depicted Emily as being in love with PT, although she didn’t go so far as to proclaim physical intimacy. However in the Afterward, our author says that that entire relationship was imagined and fictitious. She says she put that in the book as Barnum was a very rich and influential New Yorker at that time. She admits that there is no historical nor documented basis – whatsoever – for that relationship. I take issue with the fact that she falsified the actions of historical figures in that manner. Apparently there was no evidence that Emily had any interest, at all, in any paramour. I appreciate the fact that she owned up to her deception, but that completely negated my enjoyment of the book, and I will not read anything further by this perpetrator of “fake news.”

I appreciate the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark, in exchange for an honest review. I only hope that the publisher will be more diligent in demanding facts about historical people.

Many readers know that Emily Roebling carried out the dreams of her husband, Washington, suffering from caisson disease, and his late father, John, dead from a freak accident, to build the Brooklyn Bridge. They also know how taxing and dangerous it was to all involved, especially in the loss of life. What Tracey Enerson Wood gives us in her fictional account of this woman’s life are the possible events and emotions that she experienced. Shy and suffering from childhood trauma, Emily watches her ill husband slowly detach himself from her, physically and emotionally. A mother of an only child, she worries about him as she is forced to forge her way through an all-male command and crew, despite jeers and nasty comments. It took years to complete this structure, years filled with disappointments and potential shut-downs. Her husband spends much time in Trenton with the family business and she seeks male companionship. Symptoms of his disease make him a changed man and she often doubts their future together. The descriptions of the actual construction and problem-solving are clear; my interest held throughout. This is a lovely testimony to an American achievement and the woman who helped bring it about.